Detective Winnie (Kajima's Version)

Chapter One

Twas a dark and gloomy night on the premises of the Hotel. Gloomy to humans, that is. For the creatures of the night, it was the time in which the day truly came alive. And for the pair Winnie and Dennis, it was the time they would have their playdate. They lie within the tree-house just outside of the Hotel. Since the events of the second film, the tree-house has been lovingly decorated and repaired to be more suitable for play. The toys strewn about illustrate this. It was nice having a room all to themselves that they shared, they treated it like a home. Though, they rarely if ever resided in it for any longer than a hour, always returning for dinner, TV, or bed. Mavis was strict about making sure they didn't stay outside for too long. Winnie would intermittently be at the Hotel for a day or two; Wanda and Wayne knew how she liked Dennis and would allow her to. Plus, it was one less child to watch out of the literal hundreds they have, though they did always miss the most eloquent of their offspring.

Dennis and Winnie were currently in the midst of one of their more creative games. It consisted of Dennis being a mad scientist who had captured Winnie and was performing unspeakable experiments on her. Of course, this was all make-believe and Winnie was having a blast. She was currently "tied up" with some old rope they had found and was screaming bloody murder as Dennis "tortured" her.

"Please, no! I beg of you!" she shouted, putting on her best damsel in distress voice.

"Your pleas mean nothing to me, my dear!" Dennis cackled, twirling his make-shift mustache. "I shall have my revenge upon you and your family!"

"Oh, the humanity!" Winnie exclaimed.

Just then, there was a loud knock on their door. Dennis and Winnie's heads snapped in the direction of the noise. After having opened the door, they came to realize it was Mavis.

"Mommy!" Dennis joyfully replied. Though, his excitement quickly turned into concern as he noticed the expression on his mother's face. She was upset, and it looked like she was upset at him. Winnie was concerned by this, too.

"I've been looking for you everywhere. You're in big trouble, mister." She sternly stated.

Dennis frowned. "But what for?!" He asked worryingly.

"Don't play the fool, you made that mess in the Hotel."

"The Hotel?" Dennis said, confused, before morphing into his bat form and flying to the hotel.

"Dennis! Wait up!" Winnie said as she chased after him on all fours. Mavis followed after them as well. When Dennis made it to the Hotel, he couldn't believe what he saw. Mouth agape, he saw the Hotel as it was, absolutely vandalized from the inside. Chandeliers broken, tables flipped over, and worst of all, dinner split all over the floor. Johnny could be seen mourning the loss of such a meal.

"What kind of maniac would put a plate of perfectly good Deviled Lizard Fingers to waste!?" He said, sobbing melodramatically, before picking a lizard finger off the floor and eating it regardless.

"Look Dennis," Mavis said as she tried to empathize with the boy, "I understand the Hotel can get messy when you and Winnie play from time to time, but this is unacceptable." She said, standing behind the young Dhamphir.

"B-But," Dennis stuttered as he tried to get a word in, "I didn't do any of this!"

"Yeah!" Winnie commented. "Me and Dennis were in the tree-house this whole time, he couldn't have done any of this."

"Oh, really? Is that so?" Mavis questioned, as she pointed to the large "Dennis Wuz Here" writing that painted the floor, it made quite clear who the culprit was. "Then who did?" She asked.

That left Winnie silent and only stutterances from Dennis. Johnny would walk over to the group. The elder Loughran had aged noticeably since the events of the second film, and is sporting a goatee that nobody but him likes.

"Look son, we're not mad at you." Mavis upset expression would contradict that statement. "Erm…I'm not mad at you, but we expect better from you, and we're going have to punish you for this."

"You're grounded for a week." Mavis said, adding to Johnny's statement.

"B-But," Dennis tried to speak up, but was quickly hushed by Mavis. Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"No 'buts' young man. You're grounded and that's final." Mavis asserted.

He stared dejectedly at the ground. "Alright, mom…" He said. Mavis was hold his hand as she began directing him to his room.

Oh, and one more thing." She said, turning around to look Winnie. "No more playdates for the two of you, at least until your punishment is up." She then continued directing Dennis to his room.

Winnie was flabbergasted and distraught. How could this have happened? One minute she and Dennis were having the time of their lives, and the next she's being told she can't see him for a whole week. All because of some silly prank that he didn't even do. It just wasn't fair. She walked back to the tree-house as she pondered what course of action she should take. Dennis was innocent, that much was certain. But nobody seemed to be listening. Frankly, she found it absurd that they believed he did it.

"Dennis wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone do that. No matter what that stupid writing says…" She said to herself. As she was thinking, she looked at one of the toys on the floor. It was a magnifying glass. Winnie and Dennis would always use it whenever they decided to play detective, with Dennis being the detective and Winnie his helpful sidekick. That's when it dawned on her.

"Since Dennis didn't do it, that means there's a real culprit on the loose. Just like in our detective games!" She said as she picked up the magnifying glass. "Enough of Assistant Winnie," She said as she donned a jacket which she pretended was a trench coat, "It's time for Detective Winnie!"